Forbearance as Redistribution
Subtitle: Enforcement Politics in Urban Latin America
Contributors: Domínguez, Jorge I.; Levitsky, Steven; Hagopian, Frances; Iversen, Torben
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Description: Why do governments tolerate the violation of their own laws and regulations, and when do they enforce them? Conventional wisdom is that state weakness erodes enforcement, particularly in the developing world. In contrast, I highlight the understudied political costs of enforcement. Governments choose not to enforce state laws and regulations that the poor tend to violate, a behavior that I call forbearance, when it is in their electoral interest.
Notes: Keywords: Enforcement, Forbearance, Informal sector, Redistribution, Street vending, Welfare state.

Thesis Ph.D. Harvard University 2014